Marketing Salaries 2011

PMF Salary survey report 2011 – Another year of modest salary growth

"If you work round the clock leading a team to bring in a £10m pa client, or develop a £500k client to £5m, is a discretionary annual bonus of c£3k and a smaller salary than a newly qualified lawyer really appropriate?"

PM Forum members were asked to complete the fifth annual online survey of marketing salaries in December 2011. 585 participated - a 1% increase on 2010. Key findings include:

Average salaries for the industry benchmark – marketing managers at UK non-global law firms – increased by 3.6% in 2011 (the same rate as in 2010). A free ready reckoner showing average salaries by grade, headcount, sector and location is available from the PM Forum website.

North American firms consistently pay more than UK (non-global) firms. For example, those at manager level receive 34% more (£55k v £41k) in North American firms.

93% (2010 92%) of marketers receive benefits with only 65% of marketers getting a bonus compared with 58% in 2010. Benefits and bonus are worth less than 15% of base salary for all but a handful. 35% consider their firm’s bonus system to be ineffective at encouraging the type of behaviour sought by management. This increases to 39% for managers. These rates are unchanged from prior years.

37% (2010 37%) have a formal annual appraisal lasting less than 45 minutes. Perhaps, unsurprisingly 22% (2010 25%) are dissatisfied with the appraisal process at their firm.

What do marketers think about their remuneration? 43% (2010 47% believe themselves to be paid less than their peers with only 6% (2010 6%) feeling that they are paid more. Statistically, this is an impossibility…

Professional bodies such as PM Forum are seen as the most reliable source of salary data, followed by peers, recruitment consultants, magazine surveys and online job banks. Line managers and HR teams are still seen as no more reliable than the office grapevine.